The ``mother's taste'' that impressed Mitterrand in ``The Haute Cuisine.'' What was the bitter secret ingredient there?

Why did she leave the Elysée Palace and come to Antarctica?

The fun of this movie lies in the way it uses cutbacks to show the two eras Hortense spends.

At the beginning of the film, Hortense prepares gratin with plenty of homemade truffles for the large group of members who are hungry for ``mother's taste'' at an Antarctic research station in the French Crozet Islands, about 8,000 miles from Paris. Serve it and receive a round of applause.

"The Haute Cuisine" Les Saveurs du Palais (C)2012 -Armada Films- Vendome Production -Wild Bunch -France 2 Cinema

The scene changes to four years ago. Hortense tries to serve the president his best meal. However, the people in the main kitchen feel threatened by her taking over their turn and do everything they can to get in the way. It's not just chefs. The upper echelons in charge of the Prime Minister's Office tried to oust Hortense for various reasons, including for the president's health and to cut costs.

In other words, not only in the culinary world, but also in the political world, people are fixated on gender, hate foreign objects and change, and try to maintain the status quo. At least, that was the reality in France during the Mitterrand era.

Are women really not suited to be chefs?